Uk

The iPhone 5 is just barely available to the public and already two high-volume burglaries have cleared out the inventory in some stores. In the UK, an O2 store assistant from Ilford is suspect of stealing some 252 iPhone 5 units and an unspecified amount of cash from the store's safe at around 1:30 AM this morning.

If you are in the UK and sitting at home or in the office impatiently waiting for your iPhone 5 delivery, this information could help to calm your nerves. If you use the tracking information provided by Apple on its website, you will more than likely see that your iPhone 5 shipment is being handled by a company called Syncreon Parcel Delivery. A quick visit to their track and trace service and the bad news is that your iPhone 5 is in Hinkley; do not despair, it's probably not.

Apple has now revealed the pricing for an off contract SIM free iPhone 5 in various European countries and if you thought last year’s prices were expensive this year will see those costs go up again. Last year Apple sold the iPhone 4S 16GB version in the UK for £499.00, this year the iPhone 5 16GB model will be sold for £529.00; that’s an increase of around 6%.

Apple’s 90-plus minute iPhone 5 launch event was packed with details about the new device’s hardware and software, but for viewers in the UK, the most important information was covered in just a few frames of video. As the camera panned over the map of iPhone 5 LTE carriers across the globe, Brits got their confirmation of what many had suspected -- the world’s first 4G iPhone would work on their country's first 4G network.

U.K. carrier Everything Everywhere, the amalgam of Orange and T-Mobile U.K., has just announced a special event for Tuesday, September 11, the day before Apple is expected to announce the new iPhone 5. Alex Dobie of our Mobile Nations sibling site, Android Central, scored an invitation:

The BBC will finally release an update to its UK only BBC iPlayer app that will bring downloads to your iPhone and iPad. The current version of iPlayer will only allow you to stream content to your device which has always been very limiting, especially if you are travelling. The news comes from The Guardian and the update should go live sometime today.

Apple has upgraded its online Apple Store shopping experience in the UK with the introduction of live online chat, guided tours and product training. The new service has been rolled out for potential iPhone and iPad buyers in the UK to help them make the correct buying decisions.

There has been a lot of talk over how the iPhone 5 will be a major upgrade from the current iPhone 4S. Consistent rumors point to not only a taller screen but most importantly an LTE radio. What is LTE and why does it matter? LTE in very basic terms is a mobile data technology that offers very fast data. Imagine if you will, downloading data onto your iPhone at a something like 50Mbit/s in real world situations and you’re getting the gist

While the UK is way ahead when it comes to angry chefs yelling at people on TV, so far their LTE deployment has been anything but speedy. However, Everything Everywhere, the company formed by the merger of Orange and T-Mobile, has been granted a license by Ofcom to start deploying LTE on 1800MHz -- this September. If that time frame sounds familiar, it's because it's also the rumored time frame for the iPhone 5 announcement. Coincidental? Maybe, but it would put Everything Everywhere well ahead of rivals O2 and Vodafone, who are still waiting on an oft-delayed spectrum auction before they can even begin their LTE rollouts.

The BBC has eventually released an update to its hugely popular TV catch up app, BBC iPlayer. BBC iPlayer is only available for UK customers who pay their license fees and it offers a full 7 day catch up service of all BBC TV and radio programs. The update to BBC iPlayer, finally brings retina quality video for the new third generation iPad and a few more improvements too.